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Cordyceps Brain Infection (Earth-1736)
The Cordyceps Brain Infection '('CBI), formerly known as ALZ-112, was an artificially created parasitic fungal infection engineered from the ''Cordyceps'' genus, designed to Alzheimer's disease. The brainchild of Dr. Alice Krippin and Gen-Sys Laboratories, the first test of the fungi was a success with apes, with the fungi controlling and restoring some of their neural functions, but the effects were not permanent and the patients died. To enhance it, a more powerful strain was created, which eventually became fatal to humans and led to the Cordyceps Pandemic, destroying most of humanity in the process. History Development ALZ-112 was the codename of a fungal cure for Alzheimer's disease engineered for six years by Dr. Alice Krippin from Gen-Sys Laboratories, which she was able to discover through the engineering of the ''Cordyceps'' genus of fungi. First utilized on many chimp test subjects, the fungi provided the scientists with the intended results. However, the success soon became a tragedy once the second strand was used, leading the chimps to exhibit abnormal and suicidal tendencies; the fungi spread through the air, and soon passed to the human staff in the laboratories. Outbreak After the Animal Freedom Front discovered the tests on chimps and planned a counter attack. In late August 2018, three AFF activists broke into Gen-Sys Laboratories in an attempt to free the infected chimps. However, when they did so, the activists were attacked and infected with cordyceps, starting to spread the fungi. By September 2018, ALZ-112 began to spread through the United States and the rest of the world. Eight days after the start of the outbreak, the President of the United States declared state of emergency; only two months afterwards, the United States Armed Forces took control of the US's government and imposed martial law. In only five months, 60% of the human population had been killed or infected by ALZ-112, which became known as the "Cordyceps Brain Infection", or "CBI". By 2033, 6.4 billion people had either died or became Walkers. Of the few millions who survived, only 1% had a chance of immunity against the CBI. While most countries perished to the pandemic, some, such as the U.S., managed to survive, but with little to no authonomy of its own, thanks to the newly implanted dictatorships established, who created quarantine zones - safe havens in former massively populated cities and centers, in order to accomodate those who were uninfected by cordyceps. Infection Mutation guide to how the CBI spreads.]]The fungus grows while the host is still alive, taking away their higher brain function (and with it, their humanity), and causing the infected host to become hyper-aggressive and incapable of reason or rational thought. The infection can also be spread through bites from living hosts. Hosts can only be infected while alive, as the fungus is unable to infect dead bodies due to its parasitic nature, though dead Infected can release spores regardless of stage. Malakai Youmans and Natalia Kosar, two survivors of the Cordyceps Pandemic, noted some similarities between the CBI and Ebola; both are highly contagious and give its infected hemorrhagic fever as one of its first symptoms. The infection is unable to spread in open air areas, such as the countryside. The infection mostly thrives in underground or enclosed areas commonly avoided by people, especially sewers, subway tunnels, and some buildings. To protect themselves from airborne spores, survivors wear gas masks; the few humans who are immune, such as Ellie Williams, do not need them. Only primates such as humans and chimps are able to carry cordyceps. *Stage 1: Stage 1 starts anywhere in between 1-2 days of infection. As the infection progresses, the infection begins altering their sight as a result of progressing fungal growth over the head and corruption of their visual cortex. *Stage 2: Stage 2 starts anywhere in between 1-2 weeks of infection. The infection will eventually scar their face completely, causing them to lose their sight, resulting in them developing a primitive form of echolocation to compensate *Stage 3: Stage 3 starts anywhere in between 1-3 years of infection. Over a very long time, they will eventually develop hardened fungal plates over most of their body. *Stage 4: Stage 4 starts anywhere in between 1-2 decades of infection. If the fungus kills the host, the host's body will grow stalk-like fungal projections which release infectious spores. As observed by Colonel William Carver, the CBI had evolved to a point that those who are uninfected were losing their ability to speak, believing the pandemic would send humanity back to the stone age, and even to extinction. Despite this, no proof of this claim was ever confirmed to be true. Source *1 Category:Earth-1736 Category:Items of Earth-1736 Category:Created by Draft227